Still A Busy Man At 70, Buck Dawson Makes Himself Available To Life`s Experiences.

May 1, 1991|By BARBARA DINERMAN, Special to the Sun-Sentinel

Buck Dawson has breakfast every morning at the Floridian, a restaurant on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

His secretary, Colleen Wilson, usually accompanies him, and they go over the day`s projects. His dog, Frosty Weismuller, waits obediently on a bench outside.

By the time breakfast is over, Dawson and Wilson have made plans to greet the mayor, talk to some newspaper reporters or maybe play host to a camper from his swimming camps in Parry Sound, Canada.

You would never know Dawson recently turned 70.

With eight books on the ``back burner`` and two or so in progress, plus his activities as director of the International Swimming Hall of Fame -- which is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation -- Dawson is a busy man.

According to longtime friend and associate Robert Hoffman, Dawson hasn`t slowed down in the 25 years Hoffman has known him.

Hoffman is former president of the Hall of Fame and co-author with Dawson of a new book on Gold-Medal swimming pools around the world,

``I worked with Buck at the Swimming Hall of Fame from its inception in 1964,`` says Hoffman. ``He has a million ideas and puts most of them to use.``

Dawson is more modest about himself.

``I`ve always believed in making yourself available to experiences,`` he says. ``That`s how you grow, and that`s how you avoid growing old.``

This guy has more projects on the drawing board than do most people half his age.

He recently has published Stand up and Hook up, a World War II novel that recounts his experiences in the 82nd Airborne Division.

The book is illustrated with cartoons and sketches by the late William Linzee Prescott, a wartime buddy. Prescott also was a noted combat cartoonist whose mural of swim champions graces the second floor of the Swimming Hall of Fame museum.

``The book is really a memoir about a vivid period in my life,`` he says. ``Now that I have time to write, it`s really all I want to do. Even though this is my 13th book, I consider writing a career change for me.``

And he`s succeeding at that change.

Stand up and Hook up won an Avery Hopwood literary prize at the University of Michigan, Dawson`s alma mater. As an upbeat narrative of how GIs coped with combat, Dawson recounts his experiences as a combat platoon leader and glider trooper. Recipient of 17 decorations, he participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the attack on Hitler`s Siegfried Line.

``Today, with the Persian Gulf war won so quickly, I`m stuck by the fact that there were nearly as many losses in my platoon in one day as in the entire Desert Storm ground war,`` he says.

Along with fighting the war, Dawson was in charge of press relations for Maj. Gen. James M. Gavin, the youngest general since George Armstrong Custer of the Union Army in 1863.

Dawson`s talents as an ``idea man`` landed him introductions to Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman among other celebrities. Always eager to make an impression, Dawson jumped off Hitler`s balcony in Berlin to impress Bergman. Years later, at a party, she recognized him.

These and other exploits are recounted in Stand up and Hook up, a title that borrows the standard command of the 82nd Airborne as they prepared to jump.

Dawson`s first book since his so-called retirement was Weismuller to Spitz ... The First 21 Years of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, a coffee- table showcase of the more than 200 hall of famers.

``I`m primarily a non-fiction writer,`` he said, ``and I still love developing ideas for promotion.``

An admittedly ungifted swimmer himself, Dawson married the daughter of Olympic swimming coach Matt Mann. Rose Mary and Dawson met when they were both students in Michigan.

They began spending their summers at the camp Dawson founded, AK-O-MAK, the first women`s swim camp in Canada.

``Actually, my daughter (Marilyn, an Olympic bronze medalist) and my son- in-law now run both AK-O-MAK and Chicopee, the boy`s camp, and I just go as a vacationer,`` Dawson says.

When former Mayor Bob Cox presented Dawson with a citation as Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 1987 for his work at the Swimming Hall of Fame, Dawson told the audience that he expected to embark on a career change soon.